Artists in Japan have been creating body art since long before a tattoo machine was ever heard humming in a studio. For centuries, Irezumi artists have been employing a technique called tebori — making tattoos by hand. This approach to traditional Japanese tattoos, which consists of using a wooden or metal stick (known as a nomi) with a set of needles fastened to its tip to insert ink into the skin, is still practiced by tattooists today. But the method dates all the way back to the Edo period (1603-1868), when the style was just beginning to take shape.